In the last post, I made the point that a “Christian view of politics” means that Christians should be humane and engaged, but critical and hesitant about any political party or social or global agenda. That is our “Prophetic Stance.” That post was a little “theoretical.” I hope to get practical in this one. Practically speaking, what should Christians do in this political climate?
FIRST OF ALL, PRAY
A posture of prayer focuses our attention away from ourselves and our agendas and onto God. Paul told Timothy, “I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for everyone–for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Prayer for our government should be emphasized more than anything else we do politically because it puts God front and center of our political speech and action. We pray for God’s kingdom to come, not ours, and this reminds us that his kingdom is not of this world. Although we get glimpses and a foreshadowing of the kingdom of God here on earth, it will always be incomplete on this earth. No amount of political maneuvering will bring about his kingdom on earth. Jesus and his church bring about the kingdom of God on this earth, and we do not adopt the world’s tactics to accomplish that. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, [the weapons we fight with] have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:3,4). Those “weapons” are first of all prayer, calling on the Spirit of God to break down “strongholds” and gridlocks that only he can. Our weapons also include the gospel of Jesus Christ, the love of God, the truth of God’s Word, and our service and grace to people.
BE THE CHURCH FOR THE WORLD
One of the most important things we can do politically is to be actively involved in a local church. Politics is not the hope of the world; the church saved by and submitting to Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. As Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willimon argue in Resident Aliens, the church doesn’t have a social strategy; the church is a social strategy: “the most creative social strategy we have to offer is the church. Here we show the world a manner of life the world can never achieve through social coercion or governmental action.”[1] The church is God’s way of showing the world what a group of people should look like–it is the community where the grace of God changes lives and families, and where the world can see the face of Jesus Christ. As Hauerwas and Willimon argue, the primary political task of the church is not to transform the world but be the church. The reason for this is because “without the church the world does not know who it is. The only way for the world to know that it is being redeemed is for the church to point to the Redeemer by being a redeemed people. The way for the world to know that it needs redeeming, that it is broken and fallen, is for the church to enable the world to strike hard against something which is an alternative to what the world offers.”[2] Thus, as Jonathan Leeman writes, “the church’s most powerful political word is the gospel. And the church’s most powerful political testimony is being the church.“[3] Because that is the case, Leeman urges us to “switch our primary political loyalties to our local churches.”[4]
If our primary political loyalty is to the church, that means that instead of thinking that all public problems should be addressed politically, and instead of “making pronouncements on political issues from afar,” I begin seeing real needs of real people in my church and my community, and I ask: what am I doing and what can I do? The church is the place where God works on my heart, making me sensitive to the needs of people in my community and opening me up to his new possibilities for change. As Leeman writes, “Life in a multiethnic church…is incubating me in humility, understanding and a desire for justice. It’s teaching me to walk and think more carefully, to speak more circumspectly. It’s teaching me to love my enemy and look for the plank in my own eye. It’s teaching me a better politics.”[5]
HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST, NOT THAT OF A REPUBLICAN, DEMOCRAT, OR LIBERTARIAN
Our first allegiance must always be to Jesus Christ, not any political party. Our first inclination when considering any issue is not what is the “conservative” or “liberal” position, but always “what is the mindset of Jesus Christ on this issue?” We must also be careful that our political affiliations do not crowd out the primary task of conveying the good news of God’s love. When we engage in political discussions or post our thoughts on Facebook, do we check Jesus at the door? Or does our Christian thinking involve and inform not only what we think but how we convey our thoughts? We cannot afford our witness to Jesus Christ to be tarnished by our political affiliation, whether on the left or the right. As Christians, we take a skeptical view of the intentions of any political party. We will refuse to let either the Republican or Democratic party use the church for its political purposes. We, as Christians, should neither idolize any political party nor be used by any political party. Our allegiance is to Jesus Christ, the Lord of this world, and the only hope for it.
This means we are not afraid to criticize the political party with which we are affiliated. As Leeman notes, “to the Christians on the political left I would say, grant no peace to the Democratic Party’s position on abortion. Fight against it. Make noise. To those on the right I would say, make no peace with any vestiges of white supremacy in the Republican Party.”[6] We should be informed about each party’s platforms and take a realistic view of each party’s strengths and weaknesses. Leeman notes that a biblical strength of the Republican party is its emphasis on personal responsibility and not relying on the government as a service provider. A biblical strength of the Democratic party is its interest in representing the poor, disenfranchised, and immigrants. But conversely, “an idolatrous trajectory of the Republican party is its tendency toward an amoral libertarianism…its good emphasis on individual responsibility can overlook larger structural realities and deny implicit biases [which] end up leaving behind the poor, the foreigner, or the minority.”[7] And likewise, “an idolatrous trajectory of the Democratic party is toward a secular godlessness that literally boos God at its national convention while also treating government as the godlike savior for all of life’s ills.”[8] We must acknowledge that government cannot solve all problems, but that good government can help solve some problems and is authorized by God to do good. But we must also recognize that good government requires compromise, honesty, civility, and concerns of people over party and power.
BE AN AMBASSADOR FOR THE KING AND SPREAD THE AROMA OF CHRIST
The world has tried to get us to believe that there is no place for the name of Jesus in the public square, that “religion” should not be permitted in political discourse. But that is a lie because all political speech is, in essence, “religious,” and the ideology that claims it has no “religion” is a religion in itself. Everyone brings to the table their mindset, their own beliefs, and so Christians should not flinch in bringing their beliefs to the political table. As Leeman writes, “everyone should enter the public square admitting who his or her gods are. Then everyone should employ his or her best arguments…for why his or her version of justice will make for the best laws.”[9] We should not be afraid to invoke the name of Jesus in public argument. He is, in fact, the Lord of Lords and the only hope for the world. But we do so not as warriors, but as ambassadors for Christ: “Ambassadors know how to fight, but they also know how to be diplomatic. They’re not just trying to win a war; they’re trying to represent a whole other kingdom.”[10] Our task as ambassadors is the “ministry of reconciliation,” not divisiveness or political bickering. In our speech and action, we should be spreading the “aroma of Christ,” the fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus (2 Cor. 2:14, 15). We should speak, write, and act in such a way that others smell the fragrant aroma of the love of God.
PRACTICE KINDNESS
Practically speaking, one of the best ways we can be the church in the world is to show kindness and love to other people. This emphasis was what Paul and Peter constantly repeated to the churches in the first-century world, a world very much as pagan as our own:
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone (Titus 3:1-4)
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 2:12, 15; 3:15,16)
Our hope does not ultimately depend on any political party, and the salvation of this desperate world shall come only through Jesus Christ as we, the church, bear witness to him. Or as Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:13, 14, 16).
[1] Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon, Resident Aliens (Nashville, TN.: Abingdon Press, 2014), 83.
[2] Ibid, 94.
[3] Jonathan Leeman, How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age (Nashville, TN.: Nelson Books, 2018), 146.
[4] Ibid, 131.
[5] Ibid, 134.
[6] Ibid,163.
[7] Ibid, 192.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid, 186.
[10] Ibid, 165.